The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 7: The Tavern

"Why are we stopping?" Audelia scowled as Flynn jumped off of the back of the horse.

"You smell."

Audelia let out an unwilling laugh. "Mature."

Flynn tied Hannah up and then stared up at Audelia, waiting for her to get down. "No seriously, you smell."

"Shut up." Audelia retorted lamely but once Flynn turned his back to her, she subtly sniffed her armpit.

She almost recoiled as the odour hit her. She hated the fact he was right, but what did he expect was going to happen, they had been travelling non-stop for days.

"I'm going to grab you some actual clothes and you are going to wash in that waterfall that is just beyond those trees," Flynn demanded as he watched Audelia climb down from the horse.

"Where are you getting the clothes from?" Audelia immediately questioned, trying to work out if any people were nearby.

"Yes, there are people nearby," Flynn responded in a way that made Audelia question whether he could read minds. She narrowed her eyes slightly at him as she thought, but concluded that he couldn't, as he would have spoken up about the many insults, she'd thought up about him.

"Are you thinking of escaping?" Flynn asked nonchalantly with a sense of humour in his tone. "Because you should know, the people that are nearby are worse crooks than me, that's the only reason I'm trusting them to not ask questions as I collect female's clothing."

Audelia nodded, understanding what he was implying and then pushed it past him. No longer thinking about escaping, but rather about the feeling of the waterfall upon her muddy skin.

Flynn grabbed her wrist before she could walk too far away and pulled her back into him. Audelia's hands flew out and landed against his chest to stabilise herself, which Flynn tried not to notice. "I'm being serious here, Princess. Do not run off, you won't like what will happen if you do."

Audelia met his threatening glance with one of her own, straightening her back in an attempt to seem less small compared to him. "Are you threatening me because that seems rather redundant seeing as though you have already kidnapped me?"

Flynn tried to keep his own brown eyes focused upon hers, but they ended up wandering. They glanced down her slender nose, which showed signs of a fading bruise. It had turned her normally white freckled skin to an odd mouldy green. Yet oddly, he found it suited her, toughening her look. "I can do a hell of a lot worse than just kidnap you." He finally replied to her question, by not entirely replying to her question,

Audelia kissed her teeth lightly and tilted her face ever so slightly. "Is that a promise?"

She swore she saw a smirk pull at his lips, but quickly turned away from him regardless. The waterfall was calling her name after all.

It was easy to pull herself out of his grip, he wasn't holding on very tightly. She started her quick walk towards the trees Flynn had directed her to.

"Don't run away, Princess!" Flynn shouted after her.

"I will do as I please," Audelia shouted back, sticking up her middle finger as she did. It was a gesture her mother told her never to use as it was extremely unladylike, but it wasn't like she was here.

The closer Audelia got to the trees, the more she began to hear the rushing of water. It grew louder and louder until she found herself passing under the two massive oak trees and their matured wooden branches, which allowed her to finally see the waterfall. She felt a smile cross her face as she lit up at the sight of the large waterfall that flowed into a pool of water.